Asner, GP, S Sousan, DE Knapp, PC Selmants, RE Martin, RF Hughes, and CP Giardina (2016) Rapid forest carbon assessment of oceanic islands: a case study of the Hawaiian archipelago. Carbon Balance and Management, 11:1. DOI: 10.1186/s13021-015-0043-4.
Paul C Selmants
Terrestrial ecosystem scientist interested in forests, carbon and climate change. I use remote sensing, data synthesis, and simulation modeling to quantify the influence of human activities on ecosystems at regional to continental scales.
Biography
Education:
2007 PhD Forest Science, Northern Arizona University
2000 MS Botany, University of Wyoming
1996 BS Botany, Miami University of Ohio
Employment:
2020- Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey
2016-20 Research Physical Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey
2012-16 Research Faculty, University of Hawaii at Manoa
2008-11 Postdoc, University of California, Santa Cruz
2007-08 Postdoc, Northern Arizona University
Links:
Science and Products
Date published: April 12, 2017
Status: Active Land Use and Climate Change Team
We are a research team focusing on understanding the rates, causes, and consequences of land change across a range of geographic and temporal scales. Our emphasis is on developing alternative future projections and quantifying the impact on environmental systems, in particular, the role of land-use change on ecosystem carbon dynamics.
We are interested in how land-use and climate...
Year Published: 2020
Shaping land use change and ecosystem restoration in a water-stressed agricultural landscape to achieve multiple benefits
Irrigated agriculture has grown rapidly over the last 50 years, helping food production keep pace with population growth, but also leading to significant habitat and biodiversity loss globally. Now, in some regions, land degradation and overtaxed water resources mean historical production levels may need to be reduced. We demonstrate how...
Bryant, Benjamin P.; Kelsey, T. Rodd; Vogl, Adrian L.; Wolny, Stacie A.; MacEwan, Duncan J.; Selmants, Paul; Biswas, Tanushree; Butterfield, H. ScottAttribution: Western Geographic Science Center
Year Published: 2019
Genetic variation in tree leaf chemistry predicts the abundance and activity of autotrophic soil microorganisms
Genetic variation in the chemistry of plant leaves can have ecosystem-level consequences. Here we address the hypothesis that genetic variation in foliar condensed tannins along a Populus hybridization gradient influence soil ammonia oxidizers, autotrophic microorganisms that perform the first step of nitrification and are not dependent on carbon...
Selmants, Paul; Schweitzer, Jennifer A.; Adair, Karen L.; Holeski, Liza M.; Lindroth, Richard L; Hart, Stephen C.; Whitham, Thomas G.
Year Published: 2019
Effects of 21st century climate, land use, and disturbances on ecosystem carbon balance in California
Terrestrial ecosystems are an important sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), sequestering ~30% of annual anthropogenic emissions and slowing the rise of atmospheric CO2. However, the future direction and magnitude of the land sink is highly uncertain. We examined how historical and projected changes in climate, land use, and ecosystem...
Sleeter, Benjamin M.; David Marvin; D. Richard Cameron; Selmants, Paul; LeRoy Westerling; Kreitler, Jason R.; Colin Daniel; Liu, Jinxun; Wilson, Tamara
Year Published: 2018
Actinorhizal species influence plant and soil nitrogen status of semiarid shrub-dominated ecosystems in the western Great Basin, USA
Actinorhizal plants form symbiotic root associations with dinitrogen (N2) fixing Frankia and are abundant in North American cold deserts. However, the extent to which actinorhizal species are actively fixing N2 or altering ecosystem nitrogen (N) availability remains unclear. We used the 15N natural abundance...
Freund, Stephanie M.; Soper, Fiona M.; Poulson, Simon R.; Selmants, Paul C.; Sullivan, Benjamin W.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center
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Freund S.M., Soper F.M., Poulson S.R., Selmants P.C., and Sullivan B.W. 2018. Actinorhizal species influence plant and soil nitrogen status of semiarid shrub-dominated ecosystems in the western Great Basin, USA. Journal of Arid Environments 157:48-56
Year Published: 2018
Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States
Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can have profound effects on terrestrial carbon dynamics, yet their effects on the global carbon budget remain uncertain. While land change impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics have been the focus of numerous studies, few efforts have been based on observational data incorporating multiple ecosystem types...
Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Liu, Jinxun; Daniel, Colin; Rayfield, Bronwyn; Sherba, Jason T.; Hawbaker, Todd J.; Zhu, Zhiliang; Selmants, Paul; Loveland, Thomas R.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center, National Land Imaging Program, United States of America, Wildland Fire Science
View Citation
Sleeter, B.M., et al., 2018, Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States, Environmental Research Letters, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aab540
Year Published: 2017
Evaluating the role of land cover and climate uncertainties in computing gross primary production in Hawaiian Island ecosystems
Gross primary production (GPP) is the Earth’s largest carbon flux into the terrestrial biosphere and plays a critical role in regulating atmospheric chemistry and global climate. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS)-MOD17 data product is a widely used remote sensing-based model that provides global estimates of spatiotemporal...
Kimball, Heather L.; Selmants, Paul; Moreno, Alvaro; Running Steve W; Giardina, Christian P.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center
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Kimball HL, Selmants PC, Moreno A, Running SW, Giardina CP (2017) Evaluating the role of land cover and climate uncertainties in computing gross primary production in Hawaiian Island ecosystems. PLoS ONE 12(9): e0184466. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184466
Year Published: 2017
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and carbon fluxes in ecosystems of Hawai‘i
This assessment was conducted to fulfill the requirements of section 712 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and to improve understanding of factors influencing carbon balance in ecosystems of Hawai‘i. Ecosystem carbon storage, carbon fluxes, and carbon balance were examined for major terrestrial ecosystems on the seven main...
Selmants, Paul C.; Giardina, Christian P.; Jacobi, James D.; Zhu, ZhiliangAttribution: Western Geographic Science Center, Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Core Science Systems, Land Change Science Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
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Selmants, P.C., Giardina, C.P., Jacobi, J.D., and Zhu, Zhiliang, eds., 2017, Baseline and projected future carbon storage and carbon fluxes in ecosystems of Hawai‘i: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1834, 134 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1834.
Year Published: 2017
Flowering phenology shifts in response to biodiversity loss
Observational studies and experimental evidence agree that rising global temperatures have altered plant phenology—the timing of life events, such as flowering, germination, and leaf-out. Other large-scale global environmental changes, such as nitrogen deposition and altered precipitation regimes, have also been linked to changes in flowering...
Wolf, Amelia A.; Zavaleta, Erika S; Selmants, Paul C.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center
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Wolf, AA, ES Zavaleta, PC Selmants. 2017. Flowering phenology shifts in response to biodiversity loss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114:3463-3468
Year Published: 2016
The potential carbon benefit of reforesting Hawai‘i Island non-native grasslands with endemic Acacia koa trees
Large areas of forest in the tropics have been cleared and converted to pastureland. Hawai‘i Island is no exception, with over 100,000 ha of historically forested land now dominated by non-native grasses. Passive forest restoration has been unsuccessful because these grasslands tend to persist even after grazers have been removed, yet active...
Ohara, Rebekah Dickens; Friday, James B.; Selmants, Paul; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Koch, Nicholas; Friday, James B.Attribution: Western Geographic Science Center
Pre-USGS Publications
Selmants, PC, KL Adair, CM Litton, CP Giardina, and E Schwartz (2016) Increases in mean annual temperature do not alter soil bacterial community structure in tropical montane wet forests. Ecosphere 7(4):e01296. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1296
Hernandez, DL, DM Vallano, ES Zavaleta, Z Tzankova, JR Pasari, S Weiss, PC Selmants, and C.M. Morozumi (2016) Nitrogen pollution is linked to to US listed species declines. BioScience 66: 213-222. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biw003
Bothwell LD, PC Selmants, CP Giardina, and CM Litton (2014) Leaf litter decomposition rates increase with rising mean annual temperature in Hawaiian tropical montane wet forests. PeerJ 2:e685. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.685
Selmants, PC, CM Litton, CP Giardina, and GP Asner (2014) Ecosystem carbon storage does not vary with mean annual temperature in Hawaiian tropical montane wet forests. Global Change Biology 20: 2927–2937. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12636